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Visual Art

What prompted Harry Belafonte to throw his support behind a documentary about his life and the work he and others did to advance civil rights in the United States and around the world? At first, the 83-year-old singing/acting/activist icon wasn’t sure he was up for it. “It looked like self-indulgence,” he told Reuters. But as…

We guess it was only a matter of time before Gunther von Hagens — a.k.a. Dr. Death, as the Germans so fondly call him — decided to up the creepiness factor in his traveling Body Worlds exhibit. You know the one — cadavers displayed with their muscles, nerves, and tendons intact thanks to a preservation technique he calls plastination. All of von Hagens’ specimens signed consent forms before they died, though you have to wonder if they knew what positions they’d be getting into: One woman is in a backbend, nipples fully erect, while one guy actually has eternal jazz-hands! So much for doing it for science. But that’s all old news. The most recent exhibit, now on display at Berlin’s Postbahnhof, features two bodies in a state of sexual congress.

Sundance Channel is excited to partner with Open Salon and Lexus as we solicit your ideas around sustainability and how technological innovation will shape our future. Each week a great post responding to the week’s big question will be picked by Open Salon editors, the author will win $200 and the post will be featured here on sundancechannel.com. So log on to Open Salon now and tell us your ideas!

They’re finally here, episodes 1 and 2 of Sundancechannel.com’s newest series of digital shorts, CASSIDY LOVES MOBY. In these first two episodes, we are introduced to Cassidy, an intense little doll, that has been haunted by recurring dreams of musician and recording artist, Moby. Compelled to understand the meaning of these visions from her unconscious, she embarks on a quest to meet Moby at Sundance in Park City, Utah where he reports he will be in attendance in his blog. Will Cassidy find her answers? Will meeting the man of her dreams bring her peace of mind? Will she and Moby hook up?!? Find out by watching the first two episodes in this hilarious 4 part series.

One of thousands of digital snapshots that make up “We Feel Fine,” an installation at New Frontiers’ headquarters With Sundance billing this year as its 25th anniversary, Robert Redford today was asked the expected questions about the festival’s past vs. present, but he resisted nostalgia and instead focused on the festival’s future. Sundance hasn’t changed…

Now in its second year, New Frontier on Main has become an essential stop in the Festival experience. Located in the bottom of a galleria, the basement space has been transformed into a dimly lit, mysterious world filled with quivering colored lights and drifting shadows.

Filmmaker Jehane Noujaim arrived at Sundance in 2001 with STARTUP.COM [www.phfilms.com], a harrowing study of ambition gone mad in the dot.com economy that she directed with veteran filmmaker Chris Hegedus. Three years later she returned with THE CONTROL ROOM [www.noujaimfilms.com], a provocative look at Al-Jazeera, the Arab-speaking television network, to see how the Iraq war looked from an Arab point of view. Born in Cairo of Egyptian Lebanese, Syrian and American descent, Noujaim knows first hand how truth is the sum of different and often conflicting perspectives. So when Noujaim won the 2006 TED Prize [www.ted.com], an honor bestowed by TED [www.ted.com] (Technology, Entertainment, Design) which grants the recipient $100, 000 and one wish, she asked to allow different global perspectives to be brought together. Her idea will manifest itself on May 10, 2008 as Pangea Day [www.pangeaday.org], a global event during which, as the organization explains, “sites in Cairo, Dharamsala, Kigali, London, New York City, Ramallah, Rio de Janeiro, and Tel Aviv will be video conferenced live to produce a 4-hour program of powerful films, visionary speakers, and uplifting music.”

New Frontier represents film at the crossroads of art, environment, culture and new media. This year’s line-up includes a program of six feature-length films from France, Haiti, and the United States. In addition to the films screening in New Frontier, the program draws focus to new work that is at the forefront of the intersection between art, new technology, and the moving image….

Sundance Institute announced that Derek Jarman’s EDWARD II (1991) and Gregg Araki’s LIVING END (1992) will be shown at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival to mark the tenth anniversary of the Festival’s From the Collection category. Drawing from one of the most important archives of American independent cinema, the films exemplify the independent spirit and artistry on display at Sundance Film Festival.

The 2008 Sundance Film Festival announced today a line-up of cinematic installations, live multimedia performance events, and panel discussions that will be featured in the New Frontier on Main, a flagship venue that is part of the Festival’s New Frontier program for showcasing films and art work from the cutting edge of cinematic culture.

While animation is not a constant among the selections at the Sundance Film Festival, this year sees a new focus with the “Animation Spotlight,” a specal program of eight short films. According to programmer Trevor Groth, “We have always dabbled in it and have tried to sprinkle it though the festival.” While the festival programmers look for workin other festivals, they have found that the animation world often seeks out the festival. “Animators by having been in Sundance they have expressed a gratitude for having an outlet for their work. For them to find an audience outside of their realm is really appreciated.”

Jennifer Baichwal’s MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES [www.mongrelmedia.com] examines the work of photographer Edward Burtynsky [www.edwardburtynsky.com] in China. Of his large scale work, Burtynsky has remarked, “These images are meant as metaphors to the dilemma of our modern existence; they search for a dialogue between attraction and repulsion, seduction and fear.” This weekend people can either see his work on the screen or on the wall in a special local exhibition of his work at the Julie Nester Gallery [www.julienestergallery.com].

While the festival has been running a new media center for the last years, the newest incarnation, New Frontier on Main, moves initiative to integrate worlds of technology, art and cinema to a new level. For programmer Shari Frilot, “There are more artists in the gallery and museum world dealing with the moving image, and we wanted to create a space that that could speak both to a film audience and the art world.” New Frontier on Main houses three galleries, a D.J. installation lounge, and a 100 seat microcinema. “We wanted it to be fully immersive,” recounts Frilot. “So there is no overhead lighting. And we wanted the programming play like a festival in a festival.”